Wild bees and their world.

Our lab focuses on the biology and evolution of wild, solitary bees. We use phylogenomics to reconstruct evolutionary relationships, employ collections-based data to document local and global patterns of biodiversity, use metagenomics to characterize the microbial community of the bee brood cell, and seek to understand the role that wild bees play in crop pollination.

Areas of Interest

We are currently involved in a three-year exhaustive survey of the bees of New York State. This project is part of the larger National Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators [pdf].

Cornell Chronicle, 30 March, 2017. Article on Heather Grab’s work on the implication of co-flowering in strawberry and apple on wild bee abundance and seed set.

The Bee Course 2020

August 16-26, 2020

The Bee Course is a nine day intensive workshop offered for conservation biologists, pollination ecologists, and other biologists who want to gain greater knowledge of the systematics and biology of bees. Details of the course are provided on the Bee Course website.

NYS Bee Diversity Survey

New York Natural Heritage Program

Our lab is involved in a state-wide survey of bees and other pollinators as part of an effort led by the NY Natural Heritage Program to develop an “Empire State Native Pollinator Survey”. The goal of the Empire State Native Pollinator Survey is to determine the conservation status of a wide array of native insect pollinators in non-agricultural habitats, including bees.